UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believes the promotion isn’t promoting its Russian fighters enough.
The UFC is set to have their second event in Russia on April 20 for UFC St. Petersburg which will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Russia’s own Aleksei Oleinik.
Also on the card are Russian fighters such as Nurmagomedov’s teammate Islam Makhachev and Magomed Mustafaev.
However, “The Eagle” doesn’t believe these fighters are getting the attention they deserve ahead of the event.
“It seems to me that after the event in Moscow there were all the same people, all the same media that were,” Nurmagomedov said at a recent fan Q&A (via BJPenn.com). “UFC fans are watching, but I know that most people don’t even know that they are doing UFC in Russia. 20 April, Magomed Mustafaev will fight with a new guy (Rafael Fiziev), no one even knows about this fight. Or [Alexei] Oleinik vs. [Alistair] Overeem. Why not show or promote it?”
Lack of promotion for UFC Moscow
Nurmagomedov also took issue with the promotion of Russian fighters for the country’s debut event at UFC Moscow last September. Oleinik also headlined that card as he defeated Mark Hunt in the main event.
“On the first event [Mairbek] Taisumov, [Rustam] Khabilov, Omari Ahkmedov fought,” Nurmagomedov added. “Taisumov has five victories in a row. Khabilov has several wins. But they didn’t even participate in any media events or promotion.
“[Nikita] Krylov participated, who returned after being fired. Petr Yan participated who was conducting the second fight in the UFC. I think the UFC should have a different policy. UFC need to pay attention to our fighters.”
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